Biddeford considering buying incinerator, shipping waste to Old Town

BIDDEFORD, Maine — The owners of a waste-to-energy facility in Biddeford say they’re working with city officials on a plan to close it.

Biddeford City Council voted Tuesday to set up a negotiating committee to begin meetings with the Maine Energy Recovery Co.’s owners on a plan that would allow the city to purchase the facility for $7.5 million.

The plan for the facility’s closure is based on a memorandum of understanding that’s been approved by the city and Casella.

That memorandum calls for a new, curbside, residential recycling program in Biddeford and conversion of a state-owned landfill to a privately owned facility. It also calls for a permit to allow the Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town to accept municipal solid waste, and the construction of a new transfer station in Westbrook.